Excuses
by tastewithouttalent
Summary: "The lights have been out in the girl's dormitory for over an hour; Akane gave up watching the darkened window thirty minutes ago in favor of watching the moonlight collect in the darkened blue of Clay's eyes." Clay tries to be responsible, Akane distracts him, and Jacqueline catches them.


There are better things Akane could be doing with his time. Top of the list is standing next to him, arms folded and face set into uncharacteristic lines of focus. If Akane didn't know Clay so well he would even believe the attention writ large over the weapon's face, but as it is he can see the crease of effort in the blond's forehead and the way his lower lip occasionally softens into its usual gentle curve before he remembers that he is On Duty and forces it into order.

"They're asleep," Akane points out. The lights have been out in the girl's dormitory for over an hour; he himself gave up watching the darkened window thirty minutes ago in favor of watching the moonlight collect in the darkened blue of Clay's eyes. "You're not going to see anything."

"I don't want to see anything." Clay must be really into his guard persona. His voice is steady and lower than usual, rigid with forcible responsibility. It makes Akane grin, even though the weapon isn't looking at him to see. "I want to ensure that Miss Anya is safe, which means no disturbances."

"We're not on guard against the room itself, Clay," Akane points out perfectly reasonably. "We're just here in case someone tries to attack. We won't miss someone coming down the alley, I promise." He reaches out to bump the back of his hand against the bare skin of Clay's forearm, tips his head so he can watch the motion of his fingers against the weapon. "Come on, no one's coming, just five minutes."

"It's never just five minutes with you," Clay grumbles. He's still not looking away from the window but he's not pulling away either. Akane's grin gets wider; when he leans in it's a little closer, until his shoulder is aligned with the weapon's as well so he can rest his chin on Clay's shoulder.

"I could be fast," he points out. When he slides his arm away and fits it along the curve of Clay's back the weapon sighs pointedly but still doesn't move. "Four minutes. Three. I've been that fast before."

"Not with me you haven't." Clay shoots a glance sideways, then flushes in realization and looks away, pulling his mask of focus back on. It doesn't matter. That was a crack and they both know it.

"Have too," Akane purrs. His head is fully on Clay's shoulder now, his lips brushing the fringe of blond hair. "I've been very fast when I need to be, I just like to take my time and really enjoy you when I can."

"_Akane_," Clay groans, but some of the stiffness is leeching out of his shoulders, some of the frown of attention on his face is curving into a smile in spite of his best efforts. "Akane, we're _working_."

"It's fine," Akane soothes. "Look, there's no one around, you can keep watch and make sure we're clear."

"Keep watch and...while you do _what_?"

Akane grins, leans in even closer until Clay can hear the deliberate shudder he puts under his exhale. "Showing is better than telling, right?"

Clay turns towards him, then, and maybe the blond is planning to tell him off but there's no fire in his movement, just the warm affection of a half-withheld smile, and when Akane takes a half-step in to kiss him the smile blossoms under his mouth in spite of Clay's responsible intentions. The weapon makes a noise that might be protest and might be the meister's name and it doesn't matter in any case; one of his hands is coming up to drag through Akane's hair, and his mouth is opening under the meister's lips, and when Akane grabs his tie and pulls him in closer Clay comes without being told.

Akane is just letting his fingers trace down the front of Clay's shirt, twisting at the buttons as he goes so Clay laughs against his mouth and presses in closer against him, when the sound of footsteps echoes off the walls. They both jerk back in perfect synchronization, pause for a breath to stare at each other, and then Akane is pushing Clay back and the blond is stumbling himself into a truly appalling imitation of a casual position. Akane rolls his eyes but drops back against the wall himself, folds his arms in a much better approximation than what Clay is managing, and by the time Jacqueline rounds the corner and sees them _he_, at least, looks perfectly calm.

"Hey," Clay says before Akane can head him off. "How's it going?" His voice is too high, strained and panicked so Akane cringes to hear it. Strategist he might be but master of intrigue Clay is not.

"Hello," Jacqueline says. She's paused at a distance, on edge now and looking from one of them to the other like she'll find an answer in the careful space between them. "Are you...what are you doing here?"

Akane reaches out to touch Clay's wrist to stop him, is opening his mouth to speak; but the touch comes too late, Clay jerks his hand away to ruffle through his hair, and the blond is saying, "Spying on the girl's dorms, of course!"

It takes every ounce of Akane's self-control to not smack his hand into his forehead. He does shut his eyes, though, briefly indulges in a moment of appalled horror while Clay continues: "Cause. Girls. Definitely into girls. That's what we're doing!"

He can't be allowed to continue. However entertaining this will be in a few minutes, Akane has too much affection for his weapon to let him go on digging this hole.

"Absolutely," he says loudly, over Clay's stuttered incoherency. "Clay's going on a panty raid, you see." He levers himself off the wall, grabs Clay's wrist in a hold that looks casual but is strong enough to make the blond flinch and hiss in protest. "Or was. Sorry, I think you failed this attempt." He flashes a smile to Jacqueline - _sorry, he's an idiot, partners, am I right?_ - and forcibly drags Clay back around the corner while the girl is still visibly hesitating over whether to call them out.

"Akane!" Clay hisses as soon as they're out of eyeshot, well before Akane is sure Jacqueline can't hear them. "What the hell was that?"

"I was helping save you from the mess you were making," Akane growls. "Jesus, Clay, you are _not_ cut out to be a spy. 'Definitely into girls'?"

Clay flushes so dark Akane can see it even in the dark, even in his periphery as they keep moving down the alley just shy of a run. "I panicked. She was going to think we were -"

"Doing exactly what we _were_ doing, yeah." Akane huffs a sigh. "Which would have been a _perfect_ excuse for why we were in the _alley outside the girl's dormitory in the dead of night_, don't you think?"

Clay misses a step. "_Oh_."

"Yeah," Akane sighs, but he can't stop grinning either, amusement is too strong for him to manage even an approximation of true anger. "Come on. It's fine for tonight, we'll tell Sid we got caught and we'll try again tomorrow." Clay whines in half-formed protest but Akane talks over him. "Besides, I was in the middle of something. If we get home we can take our time, right?"

"Take our - _oh_." There's another wave of heat over Clay's features. The blond ducks his head like it'll cover his reaction. "_Jesus_ Akane, you're insatiable."

Akane glances sideways, grins so the moonlight catches the expression when Clay glances at him. "Are you complaining?"

The weapon looks away and bites his lip, but his hand shifts and his fingers curl into Akane's, and when the meister smiles and picks up his pace the blond matches him step for step.


End file.
